9:03 a.m., Nov. 4, 2009----The age of technology has brought many changes to the hospitality industry from reservations to the technological amenities of the hotel rooms themselves. What services and amenities are offered can be critical to guests' impressions of a hotel and whether they return.

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Cihan Cobanoglu, associate professor of hotel, restaurant and institutional management and management information systems at the University of Delaware, and Ekaterina Berezina, a graduate student in the program from Russia, conducted a survey of 1,000 hotel guests to determine the importance of and satisfaction with in-room technologies on behalf of the American Hotel and Lodging Association's Technology and E-Business Committee. Their findings were published in Hospitality Technology magazine.

The survey offered 20 items for guests to rate in order of what was important to them and how satisfied they were with what was offered on a rising scale of one to five, Berezina said.

The survey was devised to indicate where there was a disparity between importance and satisfaction. There were several areas where importance and satisfaction were both highly rated, Cobanoglu wrote. Express check-in and check-out, wireless Internet access and alarm clocks got high marks in performance and importance.

The survey discovered that two specific in-room amenities were rated important to guests but were rated lower in satisfaction -- easily accessible electrical outlets and guest control panels.

Guests do not like to have crawl under beds and furniture trying to find outlets, Cobanoglu said. Although many hotels do offer electrical outlets or charging stations on the desktop or by the bed, the survey indicated that there is still a “significant area for improvement in this area,” Cobanoglu wrote. “The good news,” he added, “is that it may not require a significant capital outlay to make a room 'easily outlet accessible.' ”

The survey indicated business travelers and female travelers placed more importance on electrical outlets than leisure and male travelers, which is important for business hotels to note.

The bedside control system enables guests to control the temperature, the lights, open and close curtains, turn on a “do not disturb/make up my room sign” or even order room service. There is a cost consideration, but for some hotels, installing guest panels may be a great option, Cobanoglu wrote.

Female travelers and leisure travelers placed more importance on the panels than business travelers, according to the survey.

Although hotels have to prioritize their investments, the survey indicates what guests desire and some kinds of hotels should consider installing the technology.

As Cobanoglu wrote, if hotel guests are “not already telling you they want these amenities, they soon may well be.”

Article by Sue Moncure